The united states' next generation of atmospheric composition and coastal ecosystem measurements nasa's geostationary coastal and air pollution events (geo -cape ) Mission

The US National Research Council (NRC), at the request of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the US Geological Survey, conducted an Earth Science Decadal Survey review to assist in planning the next generation of Earth science satellite missions. Because of budget constraints since the release of the DS, a GEO-CAPE launch as a single independent satellite was delayed beyond 2020, prompting the SWGs to take a creative approach to develop a realistic mission concept at considerably lower cost and risk that would still meet most of the DS science requirements. The SWGs were charged with developing a coherent set of realistic science objectives that could be readily achieved using technology that either currently exists or likely will be available within the next several years, expressed as science traceability matrices (STM) that describe the f low from GEO-CAPE scientific questions to instrument requirements.